Jan. 6 Capitol Riot — Bunk History

Drawing of Anthea Hartig with insurrectionist memorabilia behind her

Insurrectionabilia at the Smithsonian

In 2026, we will celebrate the nation’s semiquincentennial, and also the fifth anniversary of the January 6th uprising.

by Bruce Handy via The New Yorker on August 21, 2023

Stack of papers with an image of the Capitol building printed on the side.

What the January 6th Report Is Missing

The investigative committee singles out Trump for his role in the attack. As prosecution, the report is thorough. But as historical explanation it’s a mess.

by Jill Lepore via The New Yorker on January 9, 2023

Rep. Bennie Thompson speaking at the Jan. 6 committee hearings.

January 6 Committee Final Public Meeting

Video testimony and evidence presented by the House Select Committee to recommend criminal prosecution of Donald Trump.

by U.S. House Select Committee on the Jan. 6 Attack via PBS NewsHour on December 19, 2022

Black and white photo of protestors climbing the Capitol Building on Jan. 6, 2021.

Ask the ‘Coupologists’: Just What Was Jan. 6 Anyway?

Without a name for it, figuring out why it happened is that much harder.

by Joshua Zeitz, Ruth Ben-Ghiat, Scott Althaus, Matt Cleary, Ryan McMaken via Politico Magazine on August 19, 2022

Four members of House committee on Jan. 6. U.S. Capitol Riot, sitting in a hearing.

What History Says About The Jan. 6 Committee Investigation

The importance of an unambiguous report that cannot be weaponized by Trump supporters.

by Stephen A. West via Made By History on March 13, 2022

Battle Hymn of the Republic and the Apotheosis of Washington

What a video of an Jan. 6 insurrectionist illustrates about race, religion, and nationalism in the MAGA movement.

by Philip Gorski via Uncivil Religion on November 3, 2021

Pennsylvania Avenue

A City-State for The Nation

The fallout of the January 6th riot and its effect on D.C. statehood.

by Alan Lessoff via The Metropole on August 9, 2021

U.S. Capitol riot

Echo Chambers

Parallels between the American Revolution and the U.S. Capitol riot.

by Sarah Swedberg via Nursing Clio on August 5, 2021

Socialist deputies march with strikers on February 12 1934.

Feb 6 1934/Jan 6 2021

What do the two events really have in common?

by John Ganz via Unpopular Front on July 15, 2021

The Capitol building.

Preserve (Some of) the Wreckage

We must remember the very real challenges to the preservation of our democracy.

by Louis P. Nelson via Platform on January 25, 2021

A crowd of people with one person waving the Confederate flag

Learning from the Failure of Reconstruction

The storming of the Capitol was an expression of the antidemocratic strands in American history.

by Eric Foner, Isaac Chotiner via The New Yorker on January 13, 2021

Person walks with Confederate flag in the U.S. Capitol

The Whole Story in a Single Photo

An image from the Capitol captures the distance between who we purport to be and who we have actually been.

by Clint Smith via The Atlantic on January 8, 2021

Person walking with Confederate flag inside of the U.S. Capitol

The Capitol Riot Reveals the Dangers From the Enemy Within

But the belief that America previously had a well-functioning democracy is an illusion.

by Eric Foner via The Nation on January 8, 2021

Man with a pistol at his hip carries the retired flag of Mississippi with a confederate battle emblem in it, and a Trump 2020 flag.

Yes, Wednesday’s Attempted Insurrection Is Who We Are

While Wednesday's images shocked us, they fit into our history.

by Gregory P. Downs, Kate Masur via Made By History on January 8, 2021

Person wearing pro-Trump attire in front of the U.S. Capitol.

What Should We Call the Sixth of January?

What began as a protest, rally, and march ended as something altogether different—a day of anarchy that challenges the terminology of history.

by Jill Lepore via The New Yorker on January 8, 2021

This Is Who We Are

The rioters at the Capitol are part of an unbroken American tradition. Sweet talk about our “better angels” did not defeat them before and will not now.

by Michael Kazin via Dissent on January 7, 2021

Different colored pillars

The Capitol Riot Was an Attack on Multiracial Democracy

True democracy in America is a young, fragile experiment that must be defended if it is to endure.

by Adam Serwer via The Atlantic on January 7, 2021

What Happens When You Try to Make History Vanish?

The White House’s decision to delete a DOJ database of Jan. 6 cases puts those who seek to preserve the historical record in direct opposition to their own government.

by Alec MacGillis via ProPublica on February 6, 2025

Protesters storming the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021.

What’s the Difference Between a Rampaging Mob and a Righteous Protest?

From the French Revolution to January 6th, crowds have been heroized and vilified. Now they’re a field of study.

by Adam Gopnik via The New Yorker on November 18, 2024

Photo of Framer James A. Bayard then a modern day photo of Congresswoman Liz Cheney.

How Past and Present Catch Up With Each Other

The election of 1801 offers a first-hand example of how current events can offer historians new perspectives on the past.

by James M. Banner Jr. via The Panorama on October 23, 2024

Donald Trump walking onstage, next to four American flags.

‘The Dred Scott of Our Time’

The Supreme Court has invested the presidency with quasi-monarchial powers, repudiating the foundational principle of the rule of law.

by Sean Wilentz via New York Review of Books on July 4, 2024

Richard Slotkin.

“A Theory of America”: Mythmaking with Richard Slotkin

"I was always working on a theory of America."

by Kathleen Belew, Richard S. Slotkin via Public Books on April 19, 2024

A cartoon Trump is shooed away by a hand in a judge's robe

The Case for Disqualification

Three years later, amid another national election, the American public is still slow to understand the enormity of January 6, 2021.

by Sean Wilentz via New York Review of Books on January 30, 2024

A sign left behind by Trump supporters at a rally outside the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in Simi Valley, California, September 27, 2023.

American Fascism

On how Europe’s interwar period informs the present.

by Rick Perlstein via The American Prospect on January 24, 2024

A supporter of Donald Trump holds a Confederate flag inside the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, after the crowd breached the building as Congress was proceeding with the electoral vote certification of the 2020 presidential election.

Trump's 'Lost Cause,' a Kind of Gangster Cult, Won't Go Away

Lost cause narratives sometimes have been powerful enough to build or destroy political regimes. They can advance a politics of grievance.

by David W. Blight via Los Angeles Times on January 14, 2024

Manifest Destiny painting by Gast.

'Pure White' Examines the White Supremacist Origins of Evangelical Purity Culture

The new podcast discusses how purity is woven into many of the myths that have fed White supremacy in the nation’s past and continue to do so today.

by Sara Moslener, Emma Cieslik via Religion Dispatches on December 18, 2023

Political cartoon of Trump praying at the foot of a Jefferson Davis statue.

What Happened When the U.S. Failed to Prosecute an Insurrectionist Ex-President

After the Civil War, Jefferson Davis, was to be tried for treason. Does the debacle hold lessons for the trials awaiting Donald Trump?

by Jill Lepore via The New Yorker on December 4, 2023

Gen. Robt. E. Lee, 1886.

After the Civil War, Robert E. Lee Couldn't Run for President, but Trump Can?

Despite Trump’s efforts to overturn the election, a Colorado state judge stretches the word “officer,” permitting him to remain on the state’s ballot.

by Garrett Epps via Washington Monthly on November 20, 2023

Former U.S. President Donald Trump prepares to speak at the Conservative Political Action Conference CPAC held at the Hilton Anatole on Aug. 6, 2022 in Dallas.

What Civil War History Says About Attempts to Use the Insurrection Clause to Keep Trump From Office

Debates about handling Confederates reveal that the 14th Amendment bars unrepentant insurrectionists from office.

by Elizabeth R. Varon via Made By History on November 15, 2023

U.S. Capitol building

Searching for the Perfect Republic

On the 14th amendment – and if it might stop Trump.

by Eric Foner, Ted Widmer via The Guardian on November 15, 2023

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